So far this crochet learning project has been fun. It has been time consuming and not always easy because I have had to start over a few times with different projects to make sure that it looked perfect, but overall, this has been a great learning experience for me. I can’t believe that I am already half way done my learning project because I don’t feel like I have been working on it that long and still feel like there is a lot to learn. This week I decided to focus on teaching myself how to make different projects using a specific technique or pattern, so I ended up teaching myself the Granny Square and a Magic Circle. I found that these two projects were similar in style because they both used the “In the Round” technique.

While I was searching for resources to teach myself, I looked back at the blog called “Understanding Crochet Diagrams: The Key to Breaking the Code” and found it to be very helpful. This blog reminded me of the language used in patterns and it reminded me of how to use symbols to decode which stitch to do for working in “a round” pattern. Other than circles, there are other shapes that are worked “in the round” like octagons, flowers, hearts, and even squares(ex. the granny square). These different shapes are also often shown in diagrams where the symbols represent the stitches. Below is an example of a Granny Square diagram that I found from the cite mentioned above.

Some pointers that I found helpful from The Craftsy Blog when creating my granny square and magic circle were:

Identify your starting point (generally the center) and follow the diagram working counter clockwise.

Do not turn your work, unless the pattern tells you to.

Rounds may be numbered or designated by alternating colors. (Like the pattern above.)

I also found a great tutorial on YouTube that showed me how to crochet a Granny Square. The video was done by Bella Coco and it is called “CROCHET: How to crochet a granny square for beginners”. I found this video on Ashleigh’s blog here. As I was learning the granny square, I found the pattern easy to catch onto. It took a couple of tries to get it right, but I finally made it. I decided to do three rounds of my granny square, so that it was just the right size to be used as a 4 X 4 coaster. Below is my process of my granny squares.

To learn the Magic Circle, I watched Sewrella’s video called “Crochet Beginner Series Part 8: Magic Ring or Magic Circle”. I also found another video that helped explain how to crochet in the round here. After I tried the magic circle, I tried crocheting “in the round” around the 7 double crochet stitches that I made to make the magic circle. As I kept crocheting around, I found that the yarn naturally started to curve and make a mini toque. I am guessing there are other patterns for toques where you start with 15 or even 30 stitches in your magic circle, instead of 7 like I did. Here is a link that you can use to find some beginner crochet hat patterns that work “in the round”. Below are pictures of my progress with the magic circle.

Overall, I feel so honoured and privileged to be able to learn visually from YouTube because I am a visual learner and if I had to try to teach myself to crochet from a book, I probably would have given up in the first week of starting this challenge. But I am glad that I have not given up because I am learning so much and I am having a lot of fun along the way.